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Scourge of the Past raid

Scourge of the Past raid

I got to try the new Scourge of the Past raid on Saturday. It was tougher than I expected. We did not even complete the first encounter in the 3 hours we were in there. I see now we were not a high enough level. I was 624 and still dying quite a bit. I will definitely need to level up more before trying again. The recommended power level is 640. From what I've heard from my clan, you want to be 635+ for it.

My first impression is that this is definitely different from any other raid I have done. The map for the first encounter is huge. It's part of the Last City with lots of buildings. It's easy to get lost in there. I'll need to get more familiar with it and learn the map so I can know my way around.

First you go to a building in the center of the map to start the encounter, retrieve a battery from a Berserker and use it to bring up a map of the area. It shows 5 receptacles that you need to bring the batteries to. These are numbered with the one on top of the center building being #5. There is a tall building with a 'Schnell' sign on one edge of the map where receptacle #1 is located. Our group decided to designate this as being 'north' from the center building. The other battery receptacles are on the other 3 edges of the map in clockwise order. So, #2 is on the east side and #3 is on the south side and #4 is on the west side. As batteries are retrieved from Berserkers you need to deposit them into the correct receptacles. The map reader has to tell the battery retrievers where to go. Depositing a battery into an incorrect receptacle kills you. There is also a time limit, so the batteries must be deposited as quickly as possible.

I used a Go Figure pulse rifle with Outlaw for long-range shooting. That seemed to work well, and I would use that again. I also went with the EP Shotgun and Thunderlord. As usual, I brought my Warlock with Well of Radiance. The Well was helpful for staying alive against all of the beefy Fallen enemies. I also switched to Healing Rift over Empowering Rift because staying alive was the most important thing in this encounter.

For the first encounter, I think that navigating the map of the Last City is going to be the most difficult thing. Here is my attempt at a rough map of it. You can ignore the lines. The lines are used here for spacing purposes only.

We tried the SotP raid again on Friday. It was easier this time since our power levels were higher. However, we still were not able to complete the first encounter. We wiped either due to too many deaths or just running out of time. Your power level makes a big difference in this raid. I was 638 at the time, and I feel like that was almost good enough.

I learned a lot. The main thing I learned is that extending the map timer is the most important thing in this encounter since your whole fireteam dies if the map timer runs out. You can extend the map timer by finding the correct berserker and defeating it, and then taking the #5 battery to the top of the center building where receptacle #5 is located. Defeating the correct berserker will cause it to drop 2 batteries. One of them will be a #5 battery. Whoever is carrying that battery has about 45 seconds to take it to the #5 receptacle and deposit it before it kills them. If the #5 battery carrier doesn't make it there in time you will likely run out of time on the map timer and then everyone dies.

I later realized that it's important to know how to get to the top of the center building from anywhere on the map. The berserker that drops the batteries could be anywhere, and there is not always an obvious way to climb up on top of the buildings from the place where the batteries get dropped. There were a few instances where the #5 battery carrier couldn't find a way to get to the top of the center building and that caused all of us to die. In fact, this happened to me one time when I was carrying the #5 battery. Believe me, it's not fun when everyone dies because you didn't make it there in time. So, I plan to study the map some more in order to find quick routes to the top of the center building from different points on the map. I just load into the raid alone and look around the map by myself. The enemies on the map at the beginning (except for the first berserker) are not too tough to deal with, and if you do happen to get killed you will just respawn anyway. The map timer doesn't start counting down until after the first berserker is killed and the first battery is deposited. That is when the encounter really begins. Up until that point, you can do whatever you want in there for as long as you want.

Over the weekend we were able to get to the final encounter with the boss, but were not able to complete it. I can tell you it's a difficult fight that requires a lot of familiarity with the mechanics and how things work. We definitely learned a lot, but we are not quite there yet.

The first encounter in the Last City is getting easier as everyone is learning where things are and how to navigate the map. Being at a higher power level also helps a lot (640+).

The second encounter has the sparrow racing where you need to outrun the burning servitor to the finish and close the door on it. It's just a matter of learning the route which is mostly linear, but it does have some tricky parts where you can get stuck or fall to your death. Just make sure you have a sparrow that is responsive and easy to drive. I also like the 'shorter cooldown between summonings' perk on my sparrow, so if I fall off of it I can summon another one right away. This is the most fun part of the raid. I even tried one run through with the 'Dawning sleigh' sparrow just for fun, although that one didn't work too well.

Then we got to the boss room where the last 2 encounters take place. We were able to complete the first part, but not the second part. More about that later.

The key to successfully clearing this or any raid is getting to a good LL, learning and mastering the mechanics and finding a pretty regular group to raid with. That takes some time leveling up, running multiple iterations to get things down and get better, and find a good fit within a group. Unfortunately for some of us the opportunity for doing that just does not appear to be there -- for a variety of reasons whether it be someone(s) in the group rage quits the group, not enough friends are raiding or have already committed to a closed (private) group, or one has just been left in the wind. The longer these issues exist the further behind one gets in experience which is a downer in itself.

Raiding is what makes Destiny fun for me. It's my motivation for improving my power level and getting new gear. I also find the process of learning the raids fun. It never ceases to amaze when what seemed nearly impossible at lower levels of power and experience becomes almost routine.

I don't agree that you get left behind if you aren't raiding. In fact, I would argue that it's the opposite. If you start raiding late, you will start at a higher power level and have a more experienced fireteam behind you.

Regarding getting a fireteam in the first place, I like the100.io for this purpose. Join a group or groups, sign up for other people's raids, and set up your own events. It's all very easy. And don't worry about needing to back out if necessary. It happens all the time. I've even had the host of an event back out on me. It's a bummer when that happens, but no reason not to do what you need to to get a fireteam.

For the sparrow racing part, I just wanted to mention that you need 2 players to punch terminals on either side of a door at the same time to open the door to start the encounter. Then you race through the tunnels on your sparrow to outrun the burning servitor. Only 2 players need to make it to the end, and they need to punch the terminals at the same time again to close the door so that the servitor doesn't burn them up. Some Fallen enemies shoot at you along the way. Most of these Fallen deal Arc damage, so Riskrunner can help prevent that damage.

Next you go to the boss room. The boss encounter has 2 parts. For the first part, your fireteam will need to separate into 2 teams. One team will go underground to collect buffs which will allow them to summon tanks to deal damage to the machinery in the middle of the map. Once enough damage has been dealt and the health bar reaches zero, this machinery will turn into the boss for the 2nd part. The players staying above ground just need to clear out as many enemies as they can.

Underground there are 4 terminals where 3 different buffs can be acquired. One terminal has a Triangle that provides an 'Angular' buff when punched. One terminal has a Circle that provides a 'Continuous' buff when punched. And one terminal has a Square that provides a 'Parallel' buff. The 4th terminal has red flashing symbols and will wipe your whole fireteam if punched, so don't punch that one.

The underground section has lots of Fallen dregs and a few Captains with Arc shields. Some shielded shanks will also try to go underground, and the top team should try to take out the shanks before they get down there. We found that Riskrunner really helped us to stay alive in the underground since most of the enemies down there deal Arc damage. The downside of Riskrunner is that you cannot run Thunderlord with Riskrunner since they're both exotic. Hammerhead can be a decent non-exotic substitute for Thunderlord. There are a few dregs with Schrapnel Launchers that deal Solar damage also, so you need to watch out for those even if you have Riskrunner.

Members of the underground team need to get a 2x stack of the Angular, Continuous, or Parallel buffs to summon a tank. You get a 2x stack by punching a symbol in one of the terminals and then finding another terminal with that same symbol after the terminals have been reset. The top team can reset the terminals by defeating a servitor that will spawn once a symbol in the underground has been punched. Resetting the terminals moves the buff to a different terminal and you need to hunt around to find the one with the correct symbol which matches your buff. If you punch a terminal that grants a buff that is different from the buff you already have, you'll die.

Yesterday I found out from my clan there is a way to make getting the 2x stack of buffs easier. After you punch your first symbol and acquire a buff, you can just stay at that same terminal and punch it again about 25 to 30 seconds later to acquire the 2x buff. The terminal won't open on the 2nd punch, but you still get the buff. This works if the terminals are NOT reset in between punches. So this method makes things easier since it requires fewer servitors to be destroyed by the top team and less running around trying to find symbols for the underground team.

I haven't posted a guide for the final boss encounter yet because I haven't had much success with it so far. I know there are some different ways to do it. In groups I've raided with, the main problem we have is that getting tethered during the damage phase is getting us killed. I'm thinking it might be best just to split up and stay far away from other players during the damage phase so that we don't get tethered.

Anyway, I've come to learn about some more tips that I can share -

It helps to have a ghost with the Speed Demon perk which lets you summon your sparrow instantly. Some exotic ghosts have this perk. I like to pair that with a sparrow that has the 'shorter cooldown between summonings' perk.

Warlocks shouldn't wear Lunafaction Boots during the final encounter because they cancel the Whisper's White Nail perk which gives you ammo back after landing 3 critical hits. You won't get ammo back if you're wearing Lunafaction Boots while standing in a Well of Radiance since the ammo will be pulled from reserves instead.

Right before the final boss attacks, a canister will glow red in one of 3 places on the boss: on his back or under one of his 2 arms. Then you can shoot the red canister to interrupt the attack. This will give you more time before the boss uses his wipe mechanic and ends the encounter. You can extend the time indefinitely as long as you can keep interrupting his attacks.

I heard that a Tatara Gaze sniper with Box Breathing can be very useful for the final encounter. I've been told that Box Breathing lets it one-shot the red canisters on the boss. It's also good against Fallen Captains with Arc shields since it deals Arc damage.

Where is the tethering coming from? I haven't had that issue that I know of, but you're making me wonder if I missed it. Also, where do you shoot the boss from? In the one clear I have, we tried shooting from the building, but the boss kept getting distracted and going down side streets, so we ended up shooting almost from the intersection in the center. Didn't notice a tether effect either place.

I guess you mean where you damage people who have a different buff. We set up three zones in the building, one per buff, two forward and one back. When we had to move into the street at the last moment, someone called out a new location for the back zone, and that worked well enough to get it done.

Right. When you're too close to other players with a different buff you get tethered to them and you end up taking damage from that. It's all about player positioning. If you're in a well-coordinated group that can position themselves correctly then it can work, but not all groups are that coordinated. My one completion was with a well-coordinated group. Unfortunately, some groups just are not able to position themselves correctly. In that case, I think you just need to spread out and stay away from each other so then you don't have to worry about getting tethered and you can just focus on damaging the boss.